Ever since the end of the 'masterclass', Asahi never formally spoke to Bianca again. They recognised each other's presence as they passed each other, but they never acknowledged it. There was a lot of psychological discharge between them: the school's highest-ranked and lowest-ranked student - doesn't that sound like the premise of a romance story?

Asahi walked to the bus station after school had finished. The stormy grey sky let out a flurry of rain, and thunder crashed periodically. The dim lights of the houses around were lighting up the area, and the mist radially clouded his vision. As he approached the bus stop, he remet that signature pair of feminine, steel-grey eyes.

"Oh... hey Asahi..."

Bianca hid her surprise to see him.

"Yeah... how's it going?"

They stood there as they silently waited for the bus to arrive. The patter of raindrops enhanced the staleness of the environment.

"Did you move house or something? You don't usually come through this bus route."

"Yeah, I did. My dad got a fancy new job at Apple, so he was able to get us a really nice house in the suburbs. I'll probably be seeing you regularly again, every morning and evening."

"I guess so. It'll be like last year,"

Their conversation was cut short as the bus arrived. They both climbed the stairs and sat near each other. While they both enjoyed each other's company, they were unable to find common ground in their conversations.

"So... how did your last term final chemistry exam go?"

"Not great... I got a 39. What about you?"

"I got the reverse of your numbers, funnily enough,"

Asahi tried to hide the stark contrast between his and her score by blending it with her words. He actually got a 99, but he felt it made little difference.

"Well done! You're so smart!"

"It's nothing like that. I just try to model my thinking to go with my strengths."

"Well... what do you think my strengths are?"

He couldn't tell whether she was trying to be provocative, or whether she was genuinely enquiring. Out of social safety, he chose the second option.

"You're really good at seeing the systems behind things. You don't need any connection between something you know and something you don't to understand something. Whenever we would learn things in class, you were always able to sharply get the underpinnings of a chemical reaction and a new organic mechanism, with very little input."

She blushed a little.

"Well, thanks, b-but why do I still get terrible scores?"

"I think, as a byproduct of your mechanical talent, you lack raw intuition and logical ability. For instance, my ability to see mechanisms pales in comparison to you, but I have very strong intuition, which is a byproduct of my innate logical abilities. Because of that, I can form rather abstract drawings between unrelated concepts, and merge them into one coherent framework. If you like, my thinking is more "fluid" whereas yours is more "particulate". I think fluid ability makes it easier to cram through tests, whereas particulate intelligence doesn't so much."

"Y-Yeah, that kind of makes sense."

She self-reflected on her thinking style. Her eyes broke into a deep blue, and Asahi was a little bewildered by the stark change. His eyes, on the other hand, remained as brown as ever.

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His over-reliance on logical constructs may backfire on him one day. After all, light was proven to be both a wave and a particle.

"So, does your type of intelligence mean you see all your subjects, even things like literature, in the same way?"

"Yes, that's exactly it. I essentially fit what I'm trying to think about in a form that is natural to me. I think you should try to break up your concepts, and then you should be able to quickly match them up. I believe that form of thinking would suit your talents."

"T-That's brilliant! Thank you!"

She quickly took out her phone and typed up a few of the points he had made. He seemed to be rather helpful for someone so lackadaisical.

"Hey Asahi... do you know who Yora is?"

"Yora? Yeah, he's in my class. What a good-looking guy, right?"

"Well, y-yeah-"

"I'm so jealous of him. He didn't even look that good last year. His skin got fully clear, and his hair highlights his jaw,"

He enthusiastically pointed out what features stood out to him. Of course, this was a little confusing for Bianca.

"Erm... Are you on that side of the fence?..."

She looked at him and giggled a little.

"H-Hey, no, I'm just appreciating his looks in a naturally objective manner, alright?"

"Hmmm, okayyy,"

She chuckled again and took a sip of water. She was going to say something, but she forgot due to his interruption.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Asahi?"

"Well, yeah, it's Evelyn."

She choked on her drink.

"Evelyn! You mean that Evelyn?!"

She couldn't even theoretically connect the mismatch in their social hierarchy.

"That's such a disjoint pairing..."

"Well, we're in the same class, so surely it's not too unheard of,"

"Well, maybe, but I just couldn't envision it. What made you attracted to her?"

He decided to be honest.

"Well firstly, she... looks quite good.."

He got back a blank stare.

"W-Well, that's not all! It's just, she seems so interesting. She has her whole life figured out. She's been going out, getting all these opportunities, and I think that's just... really respectable."

Bianca carried on listening.

"Like, her ability to plan everything, and take control of everything, as well as listen to people around her - her character is unlike anyone I've met before."

"But... doesn't that get a little intense?"

"Well, I love intensity. I think it's because I lack it so much that I find it too enticing to me."

"Hm... you love intensity? Why not just go on some fairground rides?"

"Er, you completely missed the point,"

He laughed, perhaps a little too loud.

"Hey! There's no need to be so mean!"

She buried her head into her hands and stuck out her tongue.

She's so innocent - so why is she such a bitch to people? Opaque people are so fascinating... it's a shame I'm so transparent.

Bianca looked as though she were in deep thought. She then broke away from her thinking.

"Hey Asahi, I saw-"

Just as she started to speak, the bus passed through a massive electronic billboard. On it, the following words were printed, in small text at the corner of a large advertisement:

There it lay: the boys thought they were seeing the remains of a harvest gone wrong, a weed gone awry, or a flower withered to dust. They looked, as if they were the higher up, looking pitifully below. Little did they know, they were being watched. They thought they were the onlookers, but really, they were simply another flower in a rose garden. Who knows, will the plants' roots be exposed, ready for the world to bear witness? Or will they wither away, as they slowly eat themselves?

As Bianca carried on talking about something or other, Asahi fearfully decoded the cryptic message. The intense patter of rain became ever so louder. There was certainly a lot there, but he could only come up with one solid abstraction.

Does the murderer know I was at the scene of the crime?